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In 2002, as mosquitoes carried West Nile virus across the United States, infecting 4200 people, 23 confirmed cases of transfusion-transmitted infection and 7 related deaths were reported.1 This was a dramatic demonstration that an emerging agent can threaten the safety of the blood supply. Because the virus's incubation period is usually 3 to 15 days and transmission by transfusion stood out against the background of a mosquito-borne epidemic, these transmissions were recognized quickly, nucleic acid–amplification technology was adapted for the detection of the virus, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada mandated the screening of donated blood . . .
Blajchman et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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